Pitchers lead Daytona Cubs to playoffs

Monday

Sep 2, 2013 at 4:37 PMSep 2, 2013 at 9:57 PM

Daytona Cubs open FSL playoffs at home.

By Sean Kernansean.kernan@news-jrnl.com

DAYTONA BEACH — Starting pitchers Corey Black, Ivan Pineyro and C.J. Edwards weren't even in the Chicago Cubs' organization two months ago.Now they're in the Florida State League playoffs for the Daytona Cubs.As the Cubs begin their quest for a sixth FSL title tonight against the Dunedin Blue Jays, those three pitchers are expected to play integral roles in the playoffs along with starters Pierce Johnson and Ben Wells.Johnson, who was in the Cubs' system, made his first appearance for Daytona in late June, while Black, Pineyro and Edwards all came aboard after Chicago acquired them in July trades. Wells is the only starter remaining from the opening day roster.“I think getting Pineyro, getting Black, getting Edwards and getting Johnson … that's what I think is the difference,” manager Dave Keller said. “In the first half, our starting pitching was so inconsistent that we had to use our relievers more than we wanted to.“Having these guys go five, six, seven innings every night just stablized everything. They've been just a huge addition to the team.”Daytona won the FSL North in the second half with a league-best 40-20 record. The Cubs host first-half winner Dunedin at 7:05 tonight at Jackie Robinson Ballpark for Game 1 of the best-of-3 series that is slated to move to Dunedin on Wednesday.Starting pitching may be the biggest reason for Daytona's second-half success. And the impact of Black (4-0, 2.88 ERA), Edwards (0-0, 1.96 ERA), Johnson (6-1, 2.74) and Pineyro (3-1, 3.40) can't be overstated.Black was acquired from the Yankees in the Alfonso Soriano trade, Edwards was part of the Matt Garza deal with Texas, and Pineyro was exchanged from Washington for outfielder Scott Hairston.With three-fifths of the starting rotation coming from different organizations, it was important that everyone meshed into a cohesive unit. And that's the environment Edwards found when he joined the team in late July.“I had one goal with my last team, and that was to have a playoff run, but once I got traded I found the same mentality here,” said Edwards, who is 8-2 with a 1.86 ERA and 155 strikeouts over 116.1 innings this season. “I'm here to help them. The team I'm with now, they're a good bunch of guys who go out each and every day with the playoffs in mind.”Black is slated to start tonight, with Edwards penciled in for Game 2, and, if necessary, either Johnson or Pineyro. The Blue Jays are countering with Austin Bibens-Dirkx tonight, Aaron Sanchez for Game 2 and Casey Lawrence for the “if-necessary” game.Daytona won 10 of 14 games against Dunedin this season, and twice the Cubs no-hit the Blue Jays. Dunedin captured the first half with a 37-29 mark before going a league-worst 26-39 in the second half.But Dunedin recalled Bibens-Dirkx and Lawrence from Double-A New Hampshire to give the rotation a boost, and Sanchez is rated by MiLB.com as Toronto's top prospect.So, while it appears Daytona has an edge on paper when comparing 2013 head-to-head results, Keller knows anything can happen in a short series.“When you get to this point in the playoffs, I think everyone can play with everyone,” Keller said. “It's all about pitching, and it's all about defense.”